Everyone has hope on Opening Day; oftentimes, it ends up being false hope. Such was the case on April 4, 2011, when the Orioles won their home opener to improve to 4-0 on the young season.

With Earl Weaver tossing out the ceremonial first pitch and Buck Showalter on board for his first full season after a strong finish to 2010, things were looking up in Baltimore. However, O’s fans would have to wait another year before the Orioles were indeed back.

In the April opener, Jake Arrieta, pitching in his second big league season, got the win with six strong innings of work; Nick Markakis went 3-for-4 with a double; Brian Roberts hit his second home run of the season, this one of the three-run variety; and Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth as the O’s defeated Rick Porcello and the Detroit Tigers by a 5-1 score.

It would be the fourth consecutive game that the Orioles allowed only one run behind strong starts from Jeremy Guthrie, Jeremy Accardo, Zach Britton, and Arrieta.

After winning six of their first seven, the O’s dropped eight straight. They would finish April with a 12-13 record and a miserable July (seven wins, 20 losses) would result in a 69-93 record